Fire Breaks Out at Apartment Building in Berkeley, Evacuations Ordered

Published Jul 23, 2017 at 10:00 AM

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Firefighters quickly contained a fire in a Berkeley apartment building in the 2300 block of Durant Avenue Sunday morning, a battalion chief said.

Durant Avenue is now open and residents have been allowed back inside the building, Berkeley Fire Department Battalion Chief Paul Cavagnaro said.

The department got a report of the fire at the Metropolitan apartment building at 9:18 a.m. and got the fire under control in 15 minutes, Cavagnaro said. The fire broke out on the roof, damaging planter boxes and furniture there, he said.

Residents of the building smoke on the roof and put the cigarettes out in the planter boxes, Cavagnaro said, and this might have sparked the blaze. The cause is still being investigated, he said.